novelraw Chapter 40 Song Ze's Domineering Protectiveness
Chapter 40 Song Ze's Domineering Protectiveness
Song Ze turned his back to Bai Mengyan and lowered his voice.
"Who did it?"
"The investor, Mr. He, whose full name is He Zhengwei, called Sa Dingding Studio directly and said that the female lead in the music video was not suitable and demanded that she be replaced."
"Who should we replace them with?"
"His daughter. He Qianqian."
Song Ze remained silent.
Zhang Juan continued, "The other party's conditions are double the initial filming costs and reshoots for all scenes. The publicity plan is temporarily frozen, pending internal confirmation from the investors."
Song Ze turned his head and glanced at Bai Mengyan.
She was still standing next to the stone lion, not leaving, clutching the hem of her T-shirt with both hands, her toes shuffling on the ground.
"Who is He Zhengwei?"
"The company, which started in real estate in Shanghai, has been investing heavily in the film and television industry in the past two years, accounting for 20% of the investment in the Sa Dingding project."
The market share isn't large, but it's related to several cinema chains.
The market share is not large.
These four words are enough.
"What's his daughter's academic level?"
"Graduated from an arts school, directed two online movies, neither of which even has a rating on Douban."
"Please arrange a meeting with He Zhengwei for me. Tomorrow, at Sa Dingding Studio."
"What are you going to do?"
"talk."
Song Ze hung up the phone and turned around.
Bai Mengyan hunched her shoulders, making her appear shorter.
"Teacher Song, is there a problem with the music video?"
"fine."
She didn't ask any further questions, and instead looked down at her canvas shoes.
"You just asked me how I managed to get through it," Song Ze said, draping his coat over his arm. "I didn't need to force myself. Do you think you need to force yourself to eat every day?"
Bai Mengyan raised her head.
"Go back and get some rest."
Song Ze walked toward the van parked on the side of the road.
He Zhengwei wants more than just his daughter to star in a music video.
The commercial scale of the Sa Dingding project is limited; a single music video can only get a maximum of tens of millions of views.
What's truly valuable are the two labels: "Sa Dingding personally participated" and "Song Ze, the lyricist and composer of 'Left Finger Points to the Moon'".
He Zhengwei wanted his daughter to step on it.
To dare to call and demand a replacement when you only have 20% market share, you either have other leverage or you're simply stupid.
No matter which one, Bai Mengyan cannot be replaced.
He knew better than anyone how much the White Dew of his past life was worth.
A future S-level celebrity might not even command a five-figure appearance fee now.
It would be foolish not to latch onto a top player at this price point.
At 1 p.m. the following afternoon, at Villa No. 3 in Songzhuang Art District.
When Song Ze arrived, Sa Dingding was practicing her singing on the second floor and didn't come down.
The clerk led him to the first-floor reception room and poured him a glass of water.
At 1:15, He Zhengwei arrived.
He was in his early fifties, and a gold watch peeked out from the cuff of his suit sleeve.
Upon entering, he first glanced around at the living room's decor, then looked at Song Ze on the sofa.
A short-haired woman followed behind him, carrying a file bag.
"Song Ze?"
He Zhengwei didn't reach out, but pulled out the chair opposite him and sat down.
Song Ze did not get up.
The assistant pulled a stack of papers from the file folder, placed them on the coffee table, and pushed them towards the coffee table.
"Compensation plan. Double compensation for initial filming costs, including venue, equipment, personnel, and personal labor. The total amount is on this page."
She turned to the last page and pointed to the numbers.
Song Ze glanced at it but didn't touch the document.
He Zhengwei leaned back in his chair.
"Teacher Song, let me be direct. I've seen the footage you shot. That little girl is indeed interesting, but not enough. The music video is going to be released and promoted online, so it needs a distinctive face. My daughter Qianqian has been practicing dance for eight years, and her image is also excellent. Having her on the project would only benefit her."
"Bai Mengyan was approved by Teacher Sa Dingding."
"I admire Professor Sa's discerning eye, but when it comes to selecting people—"
"It was my choice too."
He Zhengwei paused for a moment and smiled.
"I heard about it. You took a liking to it at first sight. Young people have guts, but you can't do business based on gut feeling alone."
Song Ze moved forward a little, crossing his hands and placing them on his knees.
"Mr. He, to be honest, Bai Mengyan is someone I took a liking to at first sight, and she's also my god-sister. If I think she's good enough, then she's good enough."
The term "adopted sister" was made up on the spot.
But in this industry, relationships are essentially defined verbally.
He Zhengwei's smile vanished.
"Teacher Song—"
"I own the copyright to the lyrics and music of 'Left Finger Pointing to the Moon.' If the music video is to feature a different person, I will also take back the song. Without this song, what's the point of making this music video?"
There was a three-second silence in the reception room.
The assistant looked down and flipped through the contract. After flipping through two pages, he leaned close to He Zhengwei's ear and whispered something.
The last trace of politeness on He Zhengwei's face vanished.
Do you know who you've offended?
He stood up, buttoned his suit jacket, and picked up the documents from the coffee table.
"Young man, you have a long road ahead of you."
He turned around, pushed the door open, and slammed it shut.
The door frame shook.
Song Ze sat on the sofa without moving.
The vocal exercises continued on the second floor, with Sa Dingding's high notes carrying down through the floorboards.
He Zhengwei's confident statement, "Do you know who you've offended?" wasn't entirely just bluffing.
Such people will always try to make amends if they suffer a loss.
Then don't give him time to make amends.
Song Ze took out his phone and scrolled to "Liu Yifei".
He couldn't have had this number in his past life.
In this life, he secluded himself in Yanjiao No. 1 Studio for three days. The collaboration on "Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms" led to this number being added to his contact list.
I dialed the number, it rang four times, and I answered.
"Song Ze?" Liu Yifei's tone was flat, and the background was very quiet.
"Sister Yifei, sorry to bother you."
"explain."
"The music video for 'Left Finger Pointing to the Moon' has finished filming. Some people want to replace the actress I chose. That girl is quite talented, it's a bit of a pity."
There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone.
"Who wants to exchange?"
"He Zhengwei, an investor."
There was another second of silence.
"It's rare for you to ask. I'll help you with this."
That's all. I'm hanging up.
Song Ze looked at the screen indicating that the call had ended.
He didn't make any specific demands.
No need.
Someone of Liu Yifei's caliber can judge the outcome after hearing the cause and effect.
Her willingness to help might stem from her dislike of the capitalist practice of forcing people into positions of power, or perhaps from the trust built up over three days of collaboration.
Either way, that's enough.
Forty minutes later, Zhang Juan sent a screenshot.
Hongxingwu Hongjie's official Weibo account just posted: "The demo for the theme song 'Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms' for the movie 'Three Lives Three Worlds,' a collaboration between Liu Yifei and Song Ze, has been finalized. Please look forward to it."
The accompanying photo shows the two working in Studio 1 in Yanjiao. Song Ze is sitting in front of the mixing console, and Liu Yifei is standing behind him, pointing her finger on the sheet music.
Zhang Juan added a message: "4th on the trending topics list, and it's still rising."
The hashtag #LiuYifeiSongZeCollaborationNewSong# is already trending on the hot search list.
The top comments were all asking "Who is Song Ze?" and "What's his background?"
Liu Yifei's fans started digging into his resume, and "Cooling Down" was brought up again and promoted.
On the surface, this Weibo post was promoting a new song, but in reality, it drew a line for everyone watching Song Ze—that behind this person stood Hongxingwu and Liu Yifei.
He Zhengwei couldn't possibly not understand it.
But Song Ze didn't receive a call from He Zhengwei.
What followed was another phone call relayed by Zhang Juan.
Sa Dingding learned from the production assistant that the investors wanted to replace the actress she approved of. She put down her coffee cup and immediately dialed the landline of a senior executive in He Zhengwei's group.
He Zhengwei clearly hadn't estimated what kind of high-level numbers were in the contacts of a singer who had been making independent music for twenty years and had been nominated for a Grammy.
Sa Dingding's original words were very short.
"I heard President He has some issues with the female lead in my music video? I approved Bai Mengyan. 'Left Finger Pointing to the Moon' is the only project I personally participated in this year. Are you sure you want to cut it?"
There were no threats, no emotional fluctuations. Every word carried its weight.
Fifteen minutes later, He Zhengwei received a call from a senior executive of the group.
Zhang Juan didn't get the details of the call, but judging from the outcome, the call wasn't very friendly.
Five minutes later, He Zhengwei's assistant called Sa Dingding's studio to formally apologize on behalf of President He and promised not to interfere in any aspect of the music video.
Song Ze's phone lit up.
Sa Dingding's WeChat message consisted of two words: "Done."
He replied with a thumbs-up emoji.
The whole thing, from He Zhengwei slamming the door to Sa Dingding sending "It's done," took less than two hours.
He only did two things: he made a firm statement and made a phone call asking for favors. Liu Yifei and Sa Dingding took care of the rest for him.
The lessons he learned from his ten years in the entertainment industry in his previous life—what truly protects you is not how loud you are, but your position within your network of relationships.
He sent Bai Mengyan a WeChat message: "The MV promotion is progressing normally, without any changes. Rest assured and prepare for the follow-up announcements."
Bai Mengyan replied with a question mark instantly.
Then a barrage of messages came flooding in.
"Teacher Song???"
"Didn't they say the plan was canceled?"
"How come it's suddenly all better???"
"What on earth happened??"
Song Ze replied with three words: "It's nothing."
Twenty seconds later, the phone rang.
Bai Mengyan attacked directly.
"Teacher Song!"
Her voice was trembling.
"I just asked the lady at the studio, and she said an investor wants to replace me, and it's you—"
"Alright."
"It was you who did it for me..."
"I said okay. Stop crying."
There was a sob on the other end of the line, followed by a sniffle and another sob.
"Teacher Song, why are you so kind to me?"